RWBY: A Blast from the Oblast
by TheKnightOfMalta
Summary: A man of unknown origin arrives in Vale with clothes unkown and a weapon unfamiliar to the local environments. He is not so much a man as he is a boy. A boy lost in a world not his own, where the common tongue is not one he is well versed in. With his arrival he receives a gift natural to most his age who have done such things as him. Time will tell if he masters his craft.
1. Chapter 1

RWBY: A Blast from the Oblast

[OC Centered]

He wakes up. Groggy. Tired. A dull pain throbbing in the back of his head, almost as if he'd had one too many drinks last night. All around him lay the strewn out life filled forest. The smell of nature filled his nostrils. A weight on his back staggered him as he stood up. It wasn't heavy, but it was off putting to his balance. Reaching behind him, he produced a long wooden object with equal bits of metal or steel mixed in. He couldn't remember what it was. It was coming to him though and surprisingly he knew how to operate the mechanism near the back which caused a small object to eject from the chamber. He remarkably caught it mid flight over his shoulder, the smaller object had a point though not a sharp point but a point none the less. A... bullet.. he remembered its name.. a bullet and a rifle... the rifle could hold five bullets at a time.

He put the bullet back in its spot atop another one just like it. He scrounged through the pockets on... a jacket? Yes a jacket that he wore, in total he had another thirty or so of these bullets. A small scraping against his leg caused him to notice a sharp piece of metal hanging from the side of his jacket. It looked much sharper then the bullet did and he almost feared touching the tip itself. He unclipped it from its spot on his jacket. The long metal was thin with its fearful point at the end. He could barely fit the whole thing it two hands. Luckily it wasn't sharp enough to cut him unless force was applied. Looking from the metal to his rifle he noticed a small attachment where the metal must fit on. After fiddling with the two for a moment, the clicked together resoundingly to behold a terrifying new extension. A Bayonet.. was it? Sharp enough to pierce a mans heart.. thin enough to go between ribs.. but where did he know that from?

He took hold of the rifle as if he'd done it a thousand times before, almost autonomously. He looked down the length of it where a neatly placed marker resided. It was round and lined up perfectly with the end of the gun. How he knew all this, shocked even him. He continued to ponder over the use of the thing in his possession until a rustle from the bushes nearby caused his autonomy to kick in once again.

He aimed the rifle with deadly intent towards the bush, unaware even of his own threatening stance.

He barely had enough time to register that he had yelled in inquiry.

"кто там!?" He yelled. The words flowed out his throat. He was definitely well versed in this form of communication. The feeling didn't feel foreign at all to him. The bushes rustled once more before a black figure slinked out from within the bush. It noticed him right away and stood up on its hind legs. A Wolf... was it? He did not know.. it seemed too foreign.. and definitely a lot larger then the blurry image he had in his head. The wolf gave a loud howl before dropping to all fours again as it began its encirclement. In the time it took the beast to return to its animal stance two more had come out from behind it and gone the opposite way. They were trying to flank him. The thought of the tactic shot a series of memories in his head but they were gone in a flash before he could grip onto them.

One of the wolves darted forward, clearly noticing his lack of focus thinking to end its dinner quickly and claim the prize. His reflexes kicked in, causing his now prevalent battle autonomy to kick in. Using the bayonet on the end of his rifle he cut the back part of the beasts legs as it lunged at him. Causing it to slide onto the ground where he once stood. A quick movement of the rifle and a loud crack followed by a sharp whine signaled the end of the beast. He was awe-struck himself. How had he done that so quickly. A sharp pain drew him back to the world around him as claws from the second wolf scrapped his back deeply. He stumbled forward, his vision a blur from the sudden pain. He had been drained already and this did no favours. He shakily brought the rifle to bear and popped the beast in the left side of its skull. It made not a sound except for a thump as its body hit the soft forest floor. His vision blurred worse now, the beast had dug its claws in deep causing him to bleed as bad as cutting his throat would have.

This was it, he thought, eaten by wolves and I don't know who I am anymore. In a futile attempt to prolong his already diminishing existence, he took hold of his rifle one more and cracked a shot at the final beast. As he pulled the trigger two gun shots rang out. One from his, which subsequently missed its target; and one from a high caliber rifle scythe which was held about fifty yards away held up by a young teenage girl in a red hood. Next to her stood a white haired girl around the same age group with what appeared to be a blade of the same thinness of his bayonet. The wolfs head exploded into gore as its body smacked the ground dully.

He dropped his rifle to his side and attempted to catch a glimpse at those who attempted to save him. Satisfied. He collapsed to his side with only his hearing intact. "Weiss! Quickly! We have to help him! Oh gosh he's bleeding a lot! Did one of the wolves get him?!" A young voice said.

"Quiet! We don't have time to talk! We need to get him back to beacon! Go get Yang and Blake. Tell them its urgent." the one he ruled out as Weiss replied to the red hooded girl who dashed off with blinding speed.

Weiss looked back at him after keeping her gaze on the red hoods last position "Come one! Hang in there. Helps on its way."

All he could stammer out was a small "Спасибо,"

"Spazi-what?" Weiss replied with a very quizzical look.

Everything went black.

Definitions to help you understand.

кто там: Russian for Who's there; pronounced how it looks.

Oblast: an administrative division or region in Russia and the former Soviet Union, and in some of its former constituent republics.

Спасибо: Russian for thank you; pronounced Spasibo


	2. Chapter 2

[Weiss Centered]

Weiss held onto the man as she cradled his head in her lap. She had no clue what he had said. No one in Vale spoke any language like that. What had he been trying to say to her? And his weapon...

Weiss looked up from the man at the bolt-action rifle. The bayonet was still attached to the front but the weapon itself showed no sign of dust usage, nor the ability to transform in anyway to fit another field of combat. There's no way this man was a Huntsman, even with the refined speed he used to dodge the wolf. A speed at which caused him to almost fade out of reality entirely but seemingly change locations very rapidly. The blade had drawn blood, it wasn't dulled in anyway nor did it possess any dust like energy. Just who was this man... or... rather, boy she corrected herself as she looked at his features more closely. He held an almost aristocratic look to him, though his clothes gave off more of a military feeling though like his language his uniform was also completely foreign to the Heiress.

A quick rustle from the bushes that Ruby had dashed off through brought Weiss attention to the world around her. Ruby had found Blake and Yang as the trio came into the clearing.

"Woah! What happened here? Whats with all the blood?" Yang said stopping mid jog into the clearing next to the dead wolf carcasses

"This much blood is anything but normal. Dust weapons tend to cauterize wounds when they impact. What tore through these wolves?" Blake said deducing the scene. Only two of the wolves had pools of their inward liquids spewed around them. The third, which ruby had dispatched laid with a circular hole in its head. Completely void of anything liquid.

"We don't know" Weiss said looking at the two. "When we had split up we found him here, in the middle of the woods surrounded by these beasts... the way he dispatched them.. his weapon.. his speech was all foreign. I don't think I've ever heard anything anywhere near it."

Weiss turned her attention to the unconscious boy in her arms. He was still bleeding profusely and looked paler by the second. Ruby noticed his state and shook Weiss hastily.

"Come on! We have to get him back to the school! They can help him!" She said turning to Yang. "Yang! Carry him. We have to get him there fast." Ruby said ordering everyone around as quick as possible.

Yang hoisted the boy onto her shoulder with ease. "He's kinda lighter then I expected." She joked. Weiss and Ruby gave her a small glare meaning the time for jokes was not now. Weiss turned away and remembered the mans weapon. No doubt he'd want it back if he survived. She picked it up and surprisingly nearly dropped it do to its somewhat staggering weight. It wasn't light that was for sure. How had he managed to swing this thing around so fast? Did it have anything to do with the speed he moved or was he just exceptionally strong? She shook the thought from her head and held the weapon in two arms.

"Alright lets get out of here!" she said. Turning to notice her team had already left her in the dust. She gave a very audible "Humph!" as if she had forgotten completely about the wounded man and was more torn up about the fact that her team left her in the middle of the forest. She stopped herself mid internal rant and raced back to Beacon. She wanted to know who the stranger was... and what he had said to her meant. The wooden rifle held closely at her side. She had the right mind to remove the very sharp bayonet attached to the tip of it. That way she didn't give herself another scar then she already had.

She arrived within the half-hour panting at the gates of Beacon exhausted. Jaune was there, who noticed her immediately.

"Oh! Hey Weiss! What're you doing here?" he asked

"Not now Jaune... did you see-" Weiss took a deep breath in "Did you see Ruby and the others come by here?"

Jaune paced back and forth for a second thinking, then a light-bulb went off.

"Yeah, now that you mention it. They zoomed past me about ten or so minutes ago near the infirmary. I tried to talk to them but they said it was urgent... I saw Yang carrying some guy, he seemed pretty deathly if you know what I mean.. is everything okay? By the way... whats that thing ya got there?" Jaune asked looking to the weapon in Weiss's hand.

Weiss had a little panicky moment but it died down as she calmed herself. She didn't want to be responsible for the death of a stranger she didn't even know the name of, especially if he had said something of importance to her.

"Thanks Jaune! Gotta go! Keep safe!" She said as she blitzed passed the Beacon gates, leaving Jaune in the dust. The Infirmary wasn't that far from where she was. She hopped they hadn't been too late.

Weiss arrived just in time to see Ruby, Yang, Blake and Professor Ozpin exit the Infirmary.

"I don't know if he'll make it Ms. Rose.. He's in fairly bad condition but our doctors will do what they can for him. Do you know anything note worthy about this man? The way he dresses is a bit.. peculiar." Ozpin asked lifting one of his hefty eyebrows in a questioning fashion.

"W-we don't know anything about him Professor. We were out in the woods and Weiss and I sort of stumbled across him as he was surrounded by wolves. He moved fast... Like, really, really, really fast. It didn't seem like he knew exactly what had happened. Then one of the wolves caught him from behind. His clothing didn't help at all. It cut really deep into his back. He fell over and shot it wit-" she explained but was cut short by Weiss's introduction.

"With this! He shot both of them with this. It didn't stop the wolves from bleeding once they died like Crescent Rose did. Its.. weird.. it also had this sharp thing attached to its front. It doesn't seem to use any form of Dust nor does it transform." Weiss intruded. Holding out the rifle for Professor Ozpin to inspect.

"Weiss!... S-sorry for leaving you behind. We just wanted to get him to safety so we kinda forgot about you." Ruby stuttered out feeling ashamed for leaving Weiss behind.

Weiss gave Ruby a forgiving look before Professor Ozpin spoke up again.

"Fascinating. I have never seen anything quite like this before.. did anything else note worthy happen? Ms Schnee?" Ozpin asked moving the rifle to his side.

"Yes Professor.. He said something to me.. and also when the wolves were surrounding him. I can't remember what it was but It didn't sound like any language I had heard before... Spazzibo? I think thats what he said.." Weiss finished.

"Gazebo?" Ruby asked lifting an eyebrow which caused Weiss to face-palm in annoyance.

"No you dolt, Spazzibo. I don't know what It means but I hardly think he was talking about Gazebo's!" Weiss answered with her usual tone of annoyance.

Professor Ozpin cleared his throat audibly. "Yes. Well.. the Doctors should have him stable by morning. When he wakes up we will all go see him. Perhaps he can answer a few questions once he's feeling better. Head back to your dorm room girls... and try not to think too hard on the subject. I'm sure he will be fine." Ozpin motioned for them to go.

"Okay.. thanks professor." Ruby said, nodding her thanks before all four of them left for their dorm room in silence.

Ozpin held out the rifle and examined it in his hand. "Fascinating indeed.."


	3. Chapter 3

"Mama, what is that necklace you're wearing?" the young boy asked his mother. She looked at him as she held onto him tightly. Nuzzling him in her arms as she held the necklace in her open hand.

"This? Its an old necklace your Papa gave me on our first date. Its a pure white crystal. He said it matched the snow with how pretty it is. Its also helped me decide what to name you." The mother said looking at her son smiling gently.

The boy pondered that for a second then a small wave of grief went over his face as if remembering something terrible.

"The boys at school make fun of my name.. they say I'm weird.. that my name is stupid." the boy recounted. The mother gave him a reasuring hug.

"Alekzander Winter... you are named after a man from history and one from folk lore. Alekzander comes from Alexsander Nevsky.. a man from the history of our country who won against a vast army of foes by fighting on the surface of an Ice lake. When the enemy attacked in their heavy armor, the ice shattered and they all sunk to the bottom. Your last name comes from General Winter himself... do you know about him Aleks?" Alek's mother asked.

"He's the man who's said to protect Rossiya in her time of need. He's never let us down, right Mama?" Aleks said with a curious face.

His mother laughed heartedly, almost like a giggle.

"Thats right my darling. General Winter has kept Rossiya safe since the very beginning. No matter who runs Russia, he will always be there for us.." the mother finished before drifting off into memory. Her eyes shone a small gleam of sadness.

"Mama... are you worrying about Papa? When is he going to get home?" Young Aleks said, grabing his mothers shirt collar to take her mind off her memories.

"Soon Detskiy, your papa will be home soon. The Commissar had him working late in the mines today. Too many of his fellow workers were... against our leaders." His mother replied, holding back anything venomous she might have had to say about the Bolsheviks.

Alekzander didn't know much about the men who lead his country. All he knew was that when he was a few years younger his family nearly starved to death. His father had to take multiple jobs to keep them alive. He would collapse dead every day he got home and seemingly reanimate the next morning. He never got enough sleep. It was like his only purpose was to keep his wife and child safe and healthy. He never failed to do such as that.

A swift knock on the door followed by a call from a man required Alekzanders mother to place him down off her lap as she went to the door. She opened it to behold a man in a Commissariat outfit, a red star gleaming from his cap. His face shown serious with a pinch of sadness though it was well hidden.

"Privyet..." the man said.

"Privyet." Aleks mother replied.

"May I come in?" the man asked.

"What for?"

"Its... about your husband... tovarish... he uh... had an accident.. in the mines.." The man stammered out.

Aleks moms knees buckled slightly but the woman kept upright.

"Where is he being tended to? Me and my son would like to see him." she asked, hoping... praying that it wasn't as bad as she thought.

"I'm sorry.. madam.. the accident was.. fatal." The Commissar replied. His hat hiding his eyes from view.

Aleks mother buckled entirely with a strong weeping sob. The kind that wrenched at your heart with untold power.

"Nyet! Nyet! Not my Yuri! Not him! You can't take my Yuri!" She cried standing up while shaking with her tears. She threw a punch at the commissar who simply blocked it. She kept trying to hit him. Her ferocity was frightening. She screamed about the Bolsheviks being bastards and filthy animals, how they had taken so much from everyone. So much from her. The Commissar had had enough as it seems. He set Alekzanders mother straight with a slap, tipped his hat and shut the door. She froze in place for a moment before collapsing to the ground weeping uncontrollably.

It took Alekzander two hours to work up the courage to go near her and by then she pulled him into a hug again, appologizing to the boy, how she had doomed him. He didn't understand what was happening. He didn't even cry. Papa was coming home soon right? The man must have been crazy. Even so he sat with his mother and the two of them fell asleep on the foyyer floor. In the morning a hard knock came with shouting. Two soldiers burst into their house and seized Alekzanders mother. The same man was there from yesterday and picked Alekzander up and put him on his shoulder. His mother had been shouting at first but stopped when the man did that. Aleks wriggled to get loose but the man held tighter. The boy gave up his struggle near instantaneously.

Hours past, until at noon he was brought to the town square where his mother stood in the centre of. Strapped to a post. There were now five soldiers. All with guns. Everything flew by so fast. His mother spotted him as the men loaded their rifles. His world had gone mute when everything started. He couldn't hear her screams. Her pleads for him to look away. The same man from before seems to run out infront of Aleks bringing him back to the world.

"Don't look boy. This isn't something you should see." He said

Aleks mind broke. Who was this man? Where was Mama? Mama?! MAMA!

A crack of five gunshots woke Aleks in his bed screaming what he had just screamed in his dream, which nearly caused the girls sitting around him to jump out of their skins. He hadn't noticed them at first. He had shot up and was furiously panting as he sat up-right. His eyes were dilated and he was sweating and scared. A Nightmare. His vision faded into perspective slowly. He noticed the girls. The strange man with a cane and what looked to be a cup filled with what Aleks assumed to be Coffee. He had never had the delight to taste such a delicacy, but he had heard about the officers having access to such things. He noticed the red haired girl from before, who seemed to be the most startled out of them all. Then a black haired girl with a bow on her head. A firery blonde next to her and finally as he turned his head he noticed the white haired girl from before. Weiss was it? Did that stand for something? It sounded familiar.. like.. the way it was said... he would have to think on it.

He suddenly realized he was staring intently at her which he determined to be unsettling. He sighed heavily before appologizing.

"Spasibo." He said aloud.

"Spazzi-what?" the red girl said.

"See! I told you it wasn't gazebo!" Weiss interjected.

Aleks could understand them but it appeared they couldn't understand him. What language were they speaking again? He had trouble remembering. Was it english? English... it sounded like it.. he thought he would give it a try.. even though his accent made it sound terrible.

"It means Sorry." he said, the O in sorry elongating due to the accent problems.

The girls jumped back.

"He can speak !" The blonde commented. She was in a rather racily designed outfit Aleks thought to himself. He didn't shoot back anything snide, mainly because he thought it would come out wrong. No matter how many years he studied at St. Petersburg, it seemed he could never get rid of his horrible accent.

Instead he chuckled. "Yes, I can speak. Though it is not my favorite language to do so in.." Aleks replied.

"So you're not a.. you know.. an alien?" The red haired girl said.

Aleks was confused. Alien? What was an Alien? "Haha... Nyet.. I'm not.. what do say.. an Alien." He replied.

The girl lifted her eyebrow at the word Nyet. "Nyet? What does that mean?" she asked.

"It means, uh... No."

"Oh.." she said, looking around slightly embarrassed.

"You startled us a moment ago you know! Not to mention we had to drag you here from the forest after you almost got killed by those wolves." Weiss said irritated with the small talk.

Aleks looked at her with an apologetic look on his face. "Your name.. is.. Weiss correct? I heard your friend over there say it before I blacked out.. I swear I've heard your name before..." Aleks said

"Well of course! Who hasn't heard of the Schnee family. My Family, the largest dust enterprise in Vale." Weiss said folding her arms proudly.

Aleks had to hold back a snort of amusement. He figured out where he had heard her name before but it was not where she though it was. Dust? Vale? He had no clue what she was talking about on that hand.

"Pardon me... but... what is this Dust you speak of? You mean like the stuff that collects on book shelves if one doesnt clean them every so often? Also.. I don't remember learning about a country named Vale... what are you talking about?" he asked, trying to get to the bottom of things.

The four girls gave him strange looks while the man they were with cleared his throat.

"Dust is a form of energy. In our realm its how we use to power the equipment that kept you alive, and our weapons. It can even be fused with clothing. As for Vale. Well.. its the world you currently reside in. As far as I can see it, you aren't from here are you?" Ozpin asked. Hefting an eyebrow and taking a sip from his coffee.

"I don't know where I am from.. I woke up in the woods and can't remember a thing.. though.. that dream I just had.. it filled in a few blanks. But I do not wish to experience that again." Aleks said looking down at his hands fiddling with his thumbs.

"No I don't suppose you would.. well, there is little you can do on your own in our world. You cant really stay on your own as you're not suited for our environment. You seem to be of age so perhaps I can offer you a spot at my school. Its, in a military way, a Combat school." Ozpin suggested. Aleks pondered the invitation for a while. He didn't know where he was and the man was right, he didn't know how to fight wolves that could move so fast and stay alive at the same time. It was better to learn about where he was then wander off and become some beasts lunch.

Aleks nodded. "I think that would be the best Idea." he said.

"Very well.. welcome aboard. Also say hello to your new team. Everyone at my school is placed into teams. These four make up team RWBY. From order of spelling. They are..." he pointed to the red haired girl. "Miss Ruby Rose," then to Weiss. "Miss Weiss Schnee." to the black haired girl. "Miss Blake Belladona." then drifted his finger to the blonde "and finally we have Mis-"

"Yang Xiao Long, pleasure to meet ya!" Yang said slapping Aleks on the shoulder. Her hand wacked against the muscles on his back and bother winced from slight pain. For Aleks mainly because it was still where his wound lay.

"Yang! Becareful, he's still healing from yesterday." Weiss snorted, getting up from her chair and leaning behind Aleks to make sure the wound hadn't reopened from the blow.

Ruby laughed. "Somebodys over protective of the new guy!" she teased.

Weiss went a small shade of red around her cheeks but didn't look up so the rest could see. Aleks could see just fine out of his peripheral vision but didn't comment.

"So.. uhh.. whats your name?" Ruby asked curiously.

Aleks looked up at the girl. Noticing that she was indeed younger then the rest. She probably was fairly high ranking or an over-achiever but he didn't rate that as bad.

He was about to answer when a soft hand touched his back. It brought up a stabbing pain with it but he didn't complain. His sharp intake of breath the only indicator of pain.

"Looks like its going to scar.. it'll hurt for a few days so be warned everytime you sit down or fall asleep you'll experience a bit of pain." Weiss said walking away from him to stand with the others.

"So are you going to answer the question or not?" she asked turning back to him. She had a scar herself above her left eye. He didn't look at it too long before answering.

"My name is Alekzander. Alekzander Winter. I'm a soldier." he said plainly.

"WOW! Your last name is a season?! What was your mothers name?! Alekzander? I've never heard that name before. It sounds so unique!" Ruby said going about a mile a minute.

"Actually I'm the only one in my Family with the last name Winter. My mother gave me the name after a legend from my country. About a man who commands the armys of snow and cold to protect our country from invasion." Aleks said.

Ruby looked at him with amazement in her eyes.

"Wow! Thats soo cool!"

Yeah.. you could say that again... If only my name did the legends justice.. Aleks thought.


	4. Chapter 4

Weiss nearly had a heart attack when Aleks woke up. No one had been expecting it since the doctor had said he wouldn't be awake till earlier. He seemed to like to surprise everyone apparently, not only with his arrival but with his speedy recovery. She had checked his back after Yang had hit him... stupid Ruby.. she only just met the guy, she wasn't being over protective just.. she didn't want him to be a burden once he got initiated at the school.. he was their responsibility now that he was on the team.

Aleks was talking with professor Ozpin now. He had gotten out of the hospital bed and was dressed in a strange looking uniform which he said was a standard thing for soldiers where he was from. She hadn't really got to look at it but it did look official. He said they gave them hats to wear as well but he never wore his and prefered a helmet if he could get one. Apparently protection was on a first come first serve basis as well.

A realization hit Weiss causing her to grow embarassed before she spoke up. A slight stutter in her voice.

"Excuse me, P-professor. Where is Alekzander going to stay back at the dorm room?" she asked spinning her foot back and forth on its tip.

Ozpin paused mid sentence as he was discussing something with Aleks at the time.

"Mr. Winter will be staying in the same room as the rest of you. You'll have to show him around and help him gather some necessitys. Other changes of clothes, books for his studies, and..." He listed.

"We're going to share our room with a boy?! Bu-but what if.. you know.. Its not like we're used to having a boy in our room! How can we be sure he wont do anything..." she couldnt find the word, she was very plainly embarassed about the whole situation, Ruby and Blake seemed to be having a joke about it while Yang simply smiled in place finding amusement in Weisses troubles.

"Many of your other classmates dorm with male students as well Ms Schnee, I hardly think it'll prove to be a problem." Ozpin replid.

"There were women in the army as well where I am from. Of course they weren't of your social status Miss Weiss so they didn't mind as much of changing in view of the rest of us. But they would set us straight if they caught us staring which.. I never had the misfortune or the intent to suffer from. I promise I'll keep my eyes to myself." Aleks added.

Weiss blushed as the mere thought of a boy seeing her in her under-garments never mind full blown naked was too much for the poor Heiress. She went from blushing to full embarrassment in the drop of a coin and turned away fuming. "W-well I beter not catch you breaking that promise by looking at me or anyone or else there'll be far worse done to you then what the women you know would do!" she said storming off down the hall.

After a couple minutes of walking Weiss stopped in a courtyard somewhere on the grounds. She had heard them calling her but she kept going. Why was she getting so worked up over this? He was just some stranger she just met.. also.. why was he looking at the scar on her face? She touched it hesitantly, feeling its distinguishable feeling. Did he think it was ugly? Why did she care? He wasn't the cutest boy she'd ever seen but everything about him just...

"Weiss! There you are! Are you okay?" Ruby said coming up behind her.

She turned towards Ruby glumly.

"H-huh? Yeah.. I'm fine Ruby, its just.. its all really sudden. I mean yesterday we saved him from a pack of wolves and now we have to share our room with him? Where is he going to sleep, there's barely enough room for all of us and our things." Weiss said worryingly

"Stop worrying Weiss. It'll be fine. Aleks seems like a nice guy.. I don't think he'll do anything creepy or bad or whatever. He doesn't seem like the type to do stuff like that." Ruby said putting a hand on Weiss's shoulder to reassure her.

"You'll see, everything will be fine." Ruby finished with a little shake.

"If you say so.." Weiss replied still feeling down.

"Come on! We gotta go take him out shopping. You seem to know what looks good so I guess you'll be our fashion expert." Ruby said giving a little tug on Weiss's arm.

"Ruby.. I've never shopped for a guy before.." Weiss said rolling her eyes.

"Well.. all we got to do is buy him clothes that make him fit in. Hopefully he's not too picky." Ruby said pulling Weiss along. "Come on! Lets go!"

Weiss sighed "Fine..."

the two met up with Blake and Yang along with Aleks inside the city at the local mall. The two girls were laughing at something the soldier said but stopped once they saw Weiss in Ruby. Well.. they didn't actually stop, more so stifle their unhampered laughter.

"Hello Ruby, and... Ms Weiss.." Aleks said.

Weiss made an audible "Humph" before commenting

"Why do you keep saying Miss Weiss? Why not Miss Schnee? Why are you using Miss anyways? We're classmates now as well as teammates." Weiss said. At the mention of Schnee Yang and Blake nearly burst out laugh. Containing their laughter just barely which was clearly irritating Weiss.

"Whats so funny?!" She asked irritated

Yang kept laughing and only Blake stopped to explain.

"Nothing. Its nothing, Aleks just told us something Ironic and we thought it fit you." Blake said, giggling lightly.

"Yep! A whole new meaning to Ice-Queen." Yang said.

Weiss shot Aleks a look that might have probably read "You're dead." but in all honesty she was embarrassed that he had a joke about her and the fact that it tied in with her less then liked nickname that people gave her for being so cold towards others.

He looked back unconcerned with a look of appeasement.

"Whatever! Lets just get to shopping!" She exclaimed.

Yang laughed "Whatever you say Miss Schnee."

Weiss growled in anguish and stormed past the trio, grabbing Aleks by the arm and tugging him along "Come on! I'll pay for whatever you want." She said, the young mans only response was a look of pleading that read "Don't let her kill me please."

The two ended up away from the group they had come with and went from store to store until Aleks found one he liked. He had been astounded by the choice of clothing, as if he had never seen anything like this before. Picking up an assortment of items including a facial bandana that, when worn, caused the the material to burn as if on fire. Of course this was done using dust so the piece of clothing never actually caught fire but it was a cool design none the less.

Weiss waited outside the change room as Aleks fiddled with the clothing he had wanted to buy. She wanted to ask him what the joke was and fumed over it silently before questioning him aloud.

"Hey.. Aleks.. what.. what was the joke you told Yang and Blake?" she asked.

Aleks audibly stopped whatever he was doing and took a moment to answer.

"It was not a joke. I simply told them where I had heard your name before. They found it Ironic and so did I when I first remembered it." He said, all accented as he started putting on the clothes again.

"Then why were they laughing so hard? You know its hardly a nice thing to make a joke about someone you just met!" she said raising her voice slightly.

Aleks poked his head out from the change room. His body was exposed from his head to his waist. Fortunately he had enough sense to be wearing pants. He looked at her for a moment before continuing.

"Weiss, I promise you it was not a joke. It was simply where I had heard your name before. It really does have an Ironic meaning but I think it suits you." He said, pulling a shirt over his head. It slid down from his neck slowly covering the surprisingly amount of muscle mass on his body. Weiss had to drag her vision back up as she had followed his hands pull the shirt down without thinking.

"Then.. what was it? At least tell me instead of beating around the bush." She said looking away upset.

Aleks tied the flaming bandana around his neck not covering his mouth but simply dangling from his neck. He also wore a vest along with the shirt.

"Where I am from.. there are many different languages and ways of communication. I went to a school and studied one that was spoken widely. In the language, your name has a meaning. Which is what Blake and Yang were laughing about." he said as he turned to retrieve his uniform from the change room.

"Then what does it mean?" she asked looking at him quizzically now.

He closed the change room door and looked directly at her.

"It translates.. how do you say... literally into White Snow." he said matter-of-factually.

Weiss seemed stupefied by the statement. It was kind of ironic. Considering her looks. She could see why Blake and Yang laughed. She really was an Ice Queen. Literally. She looked away afraid she might blush. It was kind of cute the way he said it too. Damn it Weiss don't get all twisted up in the simple things!

"WEEEEEEISSSSS!" Ruby shouted as she slammed into the Heiress as she burst into the shop.

Weiss imitated a loud "Ooof" as she collided with the girl.

"Oww! Watch where you're going next time!" Weiss shouted at her.

"Weiss! We thought you were really mad at us! We've been looking everywhere for you gu-" she paused taking in Aleks's new look.

"Wow... You're really good at finding outfits.. huh Weiss." Ruby said admiring Aleks look.

"Actually.. he picked that out himself, I'm just buying it.. its a fairly large step up from what he was wearing before as well."

"Great.. two people good at designing outfits... just what we need." Ruby said sarcastically.

"Oh! By the way, Professor Ozpin called. He said he had something ready for Aleks.. as well as that he would have to take an entrance exam before he could join our team. To make sure he's up to snuff for Beacon." Ruby said looking back and forth between Weiss and Aleks. One of which remained clueless.

"What?! But how is he going to pass if he knows nothing about Vale?" Weiss exclaimed

"Oh, no, The Professor said its strictly a combat test. He'll be going up against someone from our school. Probably one of us actually." Ruby added.

Weiss and Aleks gave a dumbfounded look.

Out of the frying pan and into the arena


	5. Chapter 5

It was just after noon when Team RWBY and their newest member walked through the gates at Beacon. Aleks had been unconscious the first time they had done so, so he had not been able to see Beacon in its spectacular glory. Buildings that seemed to pierce the vale of the sky, almost church like. A fountain sat in the middle of the school grounds, water flowing from the crown. It was much more peaceful then the city limits, and even so more then the harsh wilderness from beyond the school grounds. A breeze had begun as they left from the mall, giving refreshment to those under the scorching sun. Perhaps it was not wise for Aleks to have bought such heavy clothing in the middle of the spring. Normally he would have been knee deep in snow and had really not compensated for the temporal difference. He did not complain, it was a gift from Weiss after all, the army officers had taught him to always be grateful for anything someone gives you as they must think well of you enough to do something so generous.

"I guess this is the first time you've actually seen the main building, right?" Ruby perked up from behind him. She was right, it was, and he had to admit it was a glorious sight indeed. Its beauty cold possibly only be matched by the capitol build from his world... The Kremlin, he believed it was called. Red stars atop towers, filled with the pride of Russian architects and filled to the brim with history and culture. It was definitively Russian, such as Beacon was definitively a symbol of prestige in Vale. At least.. he thought it was prestigious.

"Its very.. admirable to say the least." Aleks said scanning the building with his fairly good eyesight. It was a force of habit for him to do this, he hadn't told any of them that he was looking for enemies amongst the decoratively placed windows. He stopped scanning when he heard the clicking of heels on concrete. A woman who wore her hair in a bun and glasses on her face was walking towards them at a brisk pace carrying a rather large parcel in her hands./p

"Girls." She said pointedly before looking at Aleks.

""Mr. Winter, some modifications have been made to accommodate your weapon for a less deadly purpose for your admission fight today. The round the gun fire will pack a punch that can knock out anyone it hits. They've been made to explode on impact so they don't go through the student you'll be facing, I doubt anyone would like to see that anyways. Be warned though, the blade on the end still cuts skin and cloth alike. Be sure to use the wood as a weapon, not the blade. This isn't a live combat exercise as I'm informed you're used to." The Woman said. Sure enough when Aleks unwrapped the parcel the frightening point of the bayonet lay fixed on him once again. He bolted the chamber to reveal a red-tipped bullet he looked at it quizzically before looking back at the woman

"How did you make these?" he asked flipping the ammunition in his hands before loading it back into the rifle.

"Our school is very resourceful. We took your previous ammunition and adapted it to Vale. Your weapon is still the same, the Professor seemed adamant in the fact that it stay so. His reasoning was that you were only ever taught how to use it in its current form unlike many students at Beacon." the woman continued. She corrected her posture before continuing.

"You are to report to the Arena in twenty minutes to face your challenger. Do not be tardy, please and thank you. It would be unwise to keep everyone waiting, also it would give off a bad first impression. Girls, follow me please, You will be sitting in the stands." She said before turning to leave, obviously expecting the girls to follow.

"Where is the Arena exactly." Aleks said as they walked on past him.

"At the other end of the school but head to the lower entrance first. They'll show you to the equipment area. You may want some armor for the occasion. Its your choice." The woman called out. Aleks gained some looks of unhappiness from the girls before they followed the woman away. She hadn't even introduced herself to him. He looked over his rifle closely for the first time. The wood was new it seemed, or refurbished at the least. The bolts were lubricated and polished to shining perfection. A luxury of a rifle he had never known before. It bolted without hesitation and bolted quickly at that. He did notice one modification while fiddling with the bolt. It had been modified to only require and straight pull back motion and cocked itself back into place if released once pulled fully back. It still pulled back with ease and locked at a certain point to allow easy reloading but all it took was a slight tug for it to slide back into place. He tested to see if it would slide out without him having to pull it but luckily the modifier had taken that into account./p

He held his rifle like he had done many a-time before. Even with hits non-lethal ammunition he didn't want to risk it going off while aimed at somebody. He also took the bayonet off so he didn't have to worry about the extra foot it put on the guns length. Even the bayonet was shined and polished. It also had a much finer tip to it, which was why it looked much more menacing now.

Aleks jogged through the courtyards keeping a mental note of the amount of time it took him to find the Arena. Sixteen minutes it took him before he spotted the building which had a large crowd gathering to go inside. He heard talk of the match up. He was to fight someone named Pyrrha Nikos. Apparently she was very popular around here. A prodigy at the school if anything. He didn't listen too long, apparently she had gone in through the west entrance and no one had seen her challenger yet. He snuck through the crowd and entered through the east entrance hearing a small gasp from the crowd once he entered. They hadn't seen him walk up to the entrance so they didn't get to see who he was exactly.

Aleks walked down a long hallway where a school attendant stood. He spotted Aleks and gave a wave of hello.

"Ahh! Mr. Winter I presume. Welcome to Beacon. If you're ready to begin just go and have a wait behind me, they'll call you out through the large doors. If you feel like you need to stock up for your fight, the armory is in full accessibility for you currently. You've even been cleared for some of the high class equipment as well. Very strange but not my place to question. Oh! And one last thing, Professor Ozpin dropped off this box of ammunition for you, said he didn't think the five you have with you would be enough though who knows. Not many people are given an admission by combat and no one has beaten the challenger you're facing to just get into our school. Best of luck Mr. Winter." The man said in a jungle of words no doubt confined together for a teacher like speech. Aleks had been paying attention when the man mention his opponent had never been beaten.

He extended his arm to Aleks. In his hand sat a large box of ammunition. He handed Aleks a pouch for the ammunition as well, which he wasn't used to. Normally the five bullets he had would be all he had for the battle, never mind a large pouch filled with ammo. He couldn't burn through this much ammunition in a single fight even if he wanted to. He nodded his thanks.

"Thank you but tell the Professor I have no need for any other equipment except for my rifle and ammunition. This will do me plenty." Aleks said one handing his rifle, resting it over his shoulder.

"Are you sure? You're going against Pyrrha Nikos Mr. Winter, surely you know who she is, what she's accomplished. I'm very much surprised she hasn't been put as a team leader yet." The man continued trying to sway Aleks's judgment. Eighteen minutes.

"I have experienced warfare, professor, I have been sent against heavily armed murderers with nothing more then what I am wearing and much less ammo then you've given me. Where I am from you make due with very little. It helps mold you. While I've heard, Miss Nikos is apparently a formidable foe. She has never seen what I have seen. Never fought what I have fought. You pick things up from real combat. In combat where all the other people want you is dead. When projectiles that can rip a man in two fly at you from all directions. So when I say I do not need access to the equipment, I mean it." Aleks said sternly giving a speech he'd rather not have given. He was going to be late. Nineteen Minutes.

Aleks patted the man on the shoulder as his speech had awarded him with a shocked expression as well as hurt one.

"Spasibo, I didn't mean to offend, but I must be going. Good day to you professor." Aleks said as he jogged down the hallway, switching to a full run as the time ticked down in his head. He burst into the entrance way to the arena gasping for breath as the crowd cheered Pyrrha's arrival. She spotted him burst inside from across the arena and gave a welcoming smile. He held his hand up to signify a moment as he caught his breath. Pyrrha took the time to wander to the center amid the cheers from the crowd. Aleks felt like he was in ancient Rome in a Colosseum. He had never gotten to go to Italy like he had hopped. Instead he wound up here. His memory kept coming back to him hour by hour and that was one of the things he recently remembered.

He managed to calm his heart to a normal pace and enter the Arena. There was many whispered words about him, he caught "Idiot" and "He's going to have to take the entrance exam."

Aleks couldn't afford to lose, he knew nothing of Vale and would almost certainly fail the entrance exam. Not only that, but he felt like he'd fail team RWBY. Speaking of RWBY, he scanned the crowd and found them the closest group to him along the bleachers, Ruby gave a wave and so did Blake but Yang and Weiss simply watched. He gave a half wave as to not give them any spotlight and turned back to Pyrrha before the woman from before began her introductory speech.

"Student of Beacon, today, at the very special offer from our headmaster Professor Ozpin, a potential student has been given a chance to enter Beacon through a combat test. Our challenger, the one who has been given this honor." She looked at him raising her arm to signify him as the challenger. "Is Mr. Alekzander Winter." and lowered her arm, gaining only a cheer from Ruby and a applaud from varying students around the audience. "And our representative tasked with deeming the challenger worthy, Miss Pyrrha Nikos!" she announced as the crowd erupted into cheers, most of them just out of school spirit as they all no doubt had to work hard to get here.

"Are you both ready?" The Woman asked. Pyrrha nodded, so did Aleks.

"Begin!" She shouted.

Aleks was quick on the draw, he hadn't unloaded the bullets so he didn't have to waste time reloading. He popped a shot off as quick as day but it was deflected by Pyrrhas shield. The impact slid her back a few paces though. Clearly the weapon still had firepower. She was quick. Very quick. That shot would have killed a normal soldier before he had enough time to blink. He pulled the bolt back and shot again, this time Pyrrha blocked but began moving forward as the bullet collided with her shield, she was sent back but she ran straight for him, thinking him incapable in close quarters fighting. She was wrong, while he was no master, he was capable enough. It was then that he realized she had a spear of some sorts. He remembered that weapons in Vale had two uses, or rather two forms. He wondered what hers was until she stopped mid run noticing his defensive stance and transformed her spear into a rifle of her own. Aleks had little time to react but combat rolled to the left to avoid getting hit. He'd never been hit by a bullet before and sure as hell didn't want to start now. As he came up from the roll Pyrrha was nearly right in his face. He spun his back leg in a sweeping motion as she came in for a swipe. It worked but she kept her momentum and cartwheeled mid air to land on her feet. He spun all the way around with his momentum and let off another shot, she was fairly close but not close enough to respond in time to the bullet

He was wrong as her shield absorbed the impact sending her sliding back again. She transformed her spear again and shot over the top of her shield. Aleks dived out of the way recovering and having to dive again. It was tiring to do so, so he decided to take the fight to her. His rifle could shatter cinder blocks with its butt so it was as good as a club in a close quarters fight. He dodged one last wave of shots before charging, he swung it wide as it collided with Pyrrhas shield with a loud "DONG". A gasp from the crowd emitted once everyone had noticed it had dented the shield significantly

The rifle however was intact. Pyrrha stared a little too long before and underhanded blow knocked her shield arm out of stance. She rolled with it though, rolling like he did and coming in for a quick strike. She caught him with the underside of her spear when Aleks met with Vale weaponry's most heinous trick. The gun aspect could be fired without transforming to add extra "Ummphf" as he was sent flying. The blow hurt. A lot. He didn't let it show but he hoped she never hit him there again. He fired another round at her, impacting at the dent and sending her sliding back. This time however she buckled slightly so a counter attack was not able to be done. Aleks took this time to show off a little finesse. He himself didn't feel as if he could pull it off, but a quick test showed that he could. He grabbed the front the rifle and twirled it in one hand, switching between the two of his hands like a staff. He wasn't trying to imitate any sort of staff play, instead he caught the bolt in his trigger hand and used the momentum from the spinning to curl it in a loop and land it back in default stance. He spun as he loaded a quick double shot into it and let the bolt slide back. As he finished his twirl he was surprised for Pyrrha to be right in his face. The smile on her lips an indicator that he had over-stayed his welcome. Unluckily for her he didn't stop his spin as the length of the gun impacted against her lower chest. Unluckily for him, her blade impacted his wounded side again.

A quick squeeze of the trigger caught her in the leg. Nothing she could do would stop him. He used his size to his advantage, being much taller then the girl and possibly stronger he used his free foot to plant a kick in her mid section sending her tumbling. The bullet had injured her so she wasn't going to be moving. He pulled the bolt back and allowed it to load the last bullet. The muzzle of the gun was a foot from Pyrrhas face. Aleks quickly held her down the is free foot to stop her from swiping him off his feet, his trigger finger asking her for an excuse

"Forfeit." he said simply. Not as an announcement, but as a demand. The crowd was silent. His wound didn't hurt anymore. Pyrrha looked at him bewildered, as if he had done something utterly unexpected. It wasn't a look of shattered pride, just unexpectedness.

"I Forfeit." she said plainly. Aleks removed his foot which was outfitted with his standard army boots that he had never replaced from her torso. He aimed the rifle away to the center of the room and squeezed the trigger. A waste of ammunition, but it was customary to do so once you had achieved a grand victory in the army. Some people jumped from his action, the announcer woman gave him a very unpleasant look. He offered Pyrrha his free hand. She took it and he stood her up. Silence.

The woman cleared her throat. "Welcome to Beacon Mr. Winter. I'll show you to where you'll be staying from now on. Please follow me."

The crowd watched in awe as Aleks followed the woman out of Pyrrhas arena entrance. Pyrrha herself half-limped, half walked behind them. As the doors shut the woman seemed outraged and raised her hand to him.

Uh oh.

"WHAT ON REMNANT WERE YOU THINKING?! AIMING A WEAPON AT A STUDENTS FACE?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW DANGEROUS THAT IS? LET ALONE SHOOTING HER IN HER THIGH." the woman yelled. Aleks wondered if the doors were sound proof or not. The woman was going absolutely ballistic on him. So ballistic infact, it put the Katyusha rocket trucks to shame.. he suffered a moment of slight realization that his past had given him a description for a woman yelling. Just what he needed, a smart-assed memory

"Mrs Goodwitch, I'm fine, really. It didn't pierce the skin but it did hurt. I was fairly surprised by Mr Winters ability. I don't mean to sound proud, but no one has ever bested me in the Arena before. How did you do it?" Pyrrha asked, nearly intoxicated by Aleks victory over her. Aleks took a hesitant step back

"It was nothing. Something you pick up from living on a battlefield." Aleks said. To be honest, he had yet to remember how long he served for, or even his ranking. All he remembered was the Soviets. The Red Army it was called.. that's what he had served in

It was then he realized he let slip that he had combat experience. Something only his body remembered but his mind had nearly lost. The whole match up was just a lucky twist of events. He had a slight twinge that he was not going to best Pyrrha to begin with. Pyrrha gave him a startled look.

"But.. there hasn't been a war in.. I forget how long. What do you mean 'living' on a battlefield. Just who ar-" Pyrrha began to ask but was cut short.

"We will discuss this later Miss Nikos, for now please see the medical staff at the infirmary. I'm guessing you're fit enough to walk by yourself? Or would you rather us escort you on the way?" Goodwitch asked generally trying to be kind.

Pyrrha shook her head. "I can manage, thank you." she said, giving Aleks a look that shone with very intense intrigue. This was going to be very difficult, even he could understand that.

With that, they left Pyrrha to tend to herself. Exiting the side entrance they were surprised to see not a single person gathered around. Perhaps they were all still too stunned to move. Professor Goodwitch turned sharply with piercing eyes directed at Aleks.

"Mr. Winter. May I advise you to not divulge any.. otherworld information to any of your fellow students except those on your team. When you do so, you make a worse situation for everyone else then there already is. Am I understood?" she said, seemingly not giving him much of a choice.

"Understood Mrs Goodwitch." Aleks said

"You can call me Professor if you'd like, some students do, so say Mrs as well." she said turning back around to leader Aleks towards the dorms.

"I told the girls once the fight was finished, IF you won to meet us at the dorm room. They'll get you settled in. Your classes begin tomorrow at eight O'clock sharp. If you have trouble with the time, just wait till the girls set out. You've been all given the same classes. You won't be called on and your Academic marks will be faked unless you prove to be a scholar and hold an interest in the world of remnant. If not, you'll only have to perform in the various combat exercises we have throughout the year. Ammunition for your weapon will be specially provided to you. You will be allowed to hone your skills using our practice areas. Also, don't be afraid to ask the girls for assistance if needed. Your combat style is average, I feel as if Miss Nikos allowed you to win. Though I'm not too sure. She seemed generally shocked that you won, but that could be falsified. I would be a liar if I said I didn't think you would make it." Goodwitch said. Aleks gave no reply as the two walked onto the dormitory.

They proceeded to climb multiple flights of stairs before stopping of one of the many floors. They turned down a long hallway to hear arguing from inside one rooms. Goodwitch stopped and turned to face Aleks with a small smirk on her lips.

"Well, Mr. Winter this is your dorm room. I hope I sound convincing when I say.. good luck." and with that she turned around and proceeded down the hall way

Aleks turned to the door where the conversation from inside was muffled. He slowly turned the door knob and pushed it open.

"WELL I NEED MY SLEEP SO YOU CAN GIVE HIM THE EXTR-... Pillow." Weiss finished as the door creaked open. She was holding onto a pillow that her and Ruby were fighting over. On the floor in the right side corner of the room law a mattress with sheets and blanket. The only thing missing was a Pillow for the bedroom suite to be complete.

Aleks turned from the corner to look at the two girls. "Its alright without the pillow, I'm sure I've slept on worse things then a pillow-less bed." he said rubbing the back of his head. It really was no big deal. He was nearly one hundred percent sure he had slept on things worse then what had befallen him in the dorm.

Weiss, with an amazing feet of strength tore the pillow from Rubys grasp which caused the red head to face plant. "Ouch..." she said with a quiet tinge of pain. Weiss shot the pillow in his direction with both arms.

"Don't be silly! You're our new member its only right to welcome you with some hospitality!" she said still offering the pillow. Aleks took it hesitantly.

"Wow.. since when did the ice melt of you Weiss?" Yang commented from her bed which she was sitting on. The bed was devoid of sheets, and Ruby's was devoid of a blanket and so was Blakes.

""You didn't have to do this all for me you know.. I would have been fine sleeping on a bare mattress." Aleks said, daring wrath to be incurred upon him.

Which it was.

"LISTEN YOU! When people give you things you're suppose to say thank you!" Weiss shouted.

Aleks reeled back as her voice hurt his ears. Not from its sound but from the volume she was using.

"I'm sorry Weiss, I didn't mean to undermine your gifts to me.. I'm grateful that you'd do something like that for someone you just met but its just a little surprising." he pleaded which seemed to work as she came to a full stop and realized how cold she'd been again.

"Yeah.. well... next time just accept gifts and don't complain, got it!?" she asked, making sure he understood it really wasn't a question. Women always tended to give you questions but really they wanted you to understand it wasn't really a question in the first place.

Aleks simply nodded his head Yes.

"Well.. looks like the Ice age is back with a vengeance." Yang commented, swinging her legs off the side of the bed.

Weiss went red.

"YAAAAAAANGG!"

It was going to be a long semester.

* * *

><p>FHU-HU-HU-HU-HUCKLE-BERRRY FIN! I had sent myself the first two paragraphs over email and when I pasted them into word they had weird brackets that I thought nothing of as I had cleared them out. God that was a LOT of editing to do. Any i hope you enjoyed this chapter. I don't generally do Author notes but this chapter is double the last chapter in length. If you liked this more then the last few, send me a PM or review saying long or short. I can take a week per each chapter or rather a few days to work on them and make them a relatively long length.<p>

Anyways, I'm off to go to bed. I've been awake since 7 am and its not 12:25 am. Good night.


	6. Chapter 6

Darkness enveloped Aleks sleep. It had been but a moment since his head hit the pillow and the sounds of his dorm mates steady breathing that left him in a stiffening unease. His body kept giving him warnings as if it was the calm before the storm. It took him nearly an hour before he fell into a deep sleep. All of a sudden, he was surrounded by rubble, gunfire, shouts of patriotism and agony.

"Ignatyev! What are you doing taking a break in the dirt?! Get up! Move! The Counter-attack has started! Get in position or I'll be the first to put a bullet in your head!" A man with a commissariat hat yelled at him in Russian. Ignatyev.. the name he was given on his birth. His mother always called him Aleksandr Winter but in the Soviet Union, all formal documents must hold a legal name if he wanted to do anything that involved even the slightest legality. He remembered even though it was his legal name he was always addressed as "Детский из Зима" or "Child of Winter.". Everyone in his village had addressed him as such by his mothers behest. Most of the time it was used as teasing or just a cute way of addressing him. Now; in the red army he could retain nothing of his childhood prestige, no matter how imaginary it was.

"Are you deaf Comrade Ignatyev!? Get into position on the east line and man that fucking machine gun!" The Commissar shouted, grabbing Aleks by his shoulder and pulling him out of the small crater he had lied down in. A mortar round impacted to the right of the trench line. A couple dozen feet away from where he was giving him a little fright. He was shoved in the direction of the eastern defence line. Where was he? He couldn't remember.. the thunderous shelling blocked out any thought from his mind. Luckily, whoever was firing these explosives at them hadn't correctly sighted their weapons yet. Aleks was not keen on sticking around to be target practice and hurried on down the trench line.

The line continued to be harassed by artillery shells, some landed harmlessly around the trenches... others were awarded with gore and hellish screams of pain and agony. Aleks kept moving, his body told him to give in but he kept in control. A shell landed just outside the trench, knocking Aleks onto his face. He instinctively grabbed his helmet with his hands to keep it on his head. A rock smashed into the back side of his hand but only bruised it. After a moment, he looked up, taking his face off the ground and spotting a famili1ar face.

"ALEXEI! PRIVYET, CYKA! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE YOU MUDAK!" a man Aleks knew as Sergei called out from fifty metres ahead. He was a loader for Aleks company. His Gunner had been injured a few days before in a previous offensive so the company commander issued him orders to take his place until a suitable replacement was found. He wasn't one for large guns but Sergei's commentary of the battle always made it worth it.

Aleks pushed himself up and stumbled, another shell landed on the outside of the trenches causing him to stumble again. He couldn't understand how he wasn't actually deaf yet. Another shell impacted on the opposite side causing him to smack into the fortified trench line. He felt as if he was getting vertigo as his whole world seemed to turn upside down. He attempted to move again but his legs gave him difficulty. Using his arms he forced himself off the fortifications and smacked the dirt opposite of Sergei.

"Alexei my friend, look at you.. you look like shit. Have you been sleeping? You look rested you ublyudok. I wish I could lay around all day too! Then maybe once the Nazi's roll into Moscow, they'll give us all a more literal term to the phrase dirt nap! Now get on the gun! We've got fascists to kill!" Sergei said opening the ammunition box. Aleks grabbed hold of the Maxim machine gun, or as Sergei called it "The Communist Postal Service." He had named this particular gun Natalia.

Their particular Maxim gun had to be belt fed and was prone to jamming once and awhile. Most of the time it was during the end of a assault so they had nothing to worry about. A call from the Commissar indicated the first German probing attacks would arrive soon. Germans.. that's right, they were fighting Germany.. but for what reason? Hadn't they already fought a war against Germany? He was taught that in school at the very least.

Two lone red army soldiers shambled up next to them, both of which the gun crew knew all the same. It was a dwindling platoon, sooner or later you ended up knowing everyone. "Evening Sergei. Aleks! Out of the crater I see! Boris told him where you were by the way, didn't find it very communist that you got to sleep while on the job." The first man, who he remembered to go by the name of Viktor said chuckling.

Boris shrugged "It was that or let you get blown up by a random artillery shell. We'll be your protection for today. Hope you don't mind. If you do, go fuck yourselves because I don't feel like being shot for disobeying orders." he said as he sat down with his back on the fortification. Both men sat on opposite sides of the gunners, covering each flank.

Aleks spotted a figure in the distance, three figures, five, twelve. He squeeze the Maxim's trigger without warning which earned him a startled look from Sergei and the others. "Shit they got here fast! Cover us Viktor! Boris you two! They might have tanks!" Sergei said feeding the rounds into the Maxim from the box by it side.

"Right! Like our little rifles could dent German armour. They make those things to last!" Viktor said.

"Are you saying the German armour is better then ours?" Boris said.

"No. I'm not defending German technical superiority I'm stating the fucking obvious!" Viktor replied.

The artillery barage began again, cutting out all chatter except for Sergei's commentary which was still audible to Aleks.

"A nuu~ Chiki Briki Iv Damke~" he hummed as he fed the machine gun.

"This one again?! Sergei, you need better material!" Viktor shouted over the barrage, giving the loader a nudge.

The Maxim jammed a bullet the second he did it.

"CYKA! Look what you've done! Natalia, forgive my friend! Spasibo! He didn't mean anything by it, I know its your favourite." Sergei said as he fiddled with the machine guns loading. More figures appear on the ridge line and so did a few armoured shapes which were no doubt the beginning of a German armour column.

"Guys! I don't think we have anti-tank weaponry! I thought they said this was suppose to be a probing force!" Boris shouted, fear nearly taking over him. The shelling had stopped but none of them had noticed. Shelling was as common as rain and when you were busy, you didn't tend to notice it ending. A loud roar overhead caused the trio to look up, Sergei still immersed in his work.

"Stuka! HIT THE DECK!" Viktor shouted running away from the position to scatter. Boris ran the opposite way.

Aleks went to run but noticed Sergei refused to move, he was hell bent on fixing the machine gun.

"Sergei! We have to go, right now!" Aleks said grabbing hold of the man who shoved him to the ground.

"No! I will not loose my Natalia!" he said as he frustratingly picked up the gun.. or rather attempted to. It didn't budge as it weighed about one hundred and twenty pounds. A dull echoed click was heard from above as the Stuka roared at them. It was outfitted with close-range bombing support. The click had been the bomb unhitching from its holster, it now dropped with a direct path on top of Sergei. He wasn't going to make it.

"SERGEI!" Aleks shouted before the bomb blew his friend, and the machine gun to smithereens. Aleks was sent flying backwards, whacking his head off the side of the entrenchment. Everything went black again.

He woke up with a start, scaring the rooms only inhabitant due to his sudden changing of position. Weiss stared at him a little frightened. This was the second time he had scared her. The others were still in bed sound asleep, it was just beginning to become light outside. Weiss hadn't changed yet, he wondered if he had woken her somehow while he was asleep.

"Sorry, I must have startled you.. I didn't wake you did I?" he asked quietly.

"N-no.. I was going to ask you something but you.. startled me that's all." She said, looking embarrassed.

"H-hey.. would you.. would you like me to show you around beacon. We don't have class for another two hours or so and no one would be around to bother us. It'd be a good way for you to find your way around and.. I feel responsible for making sure your all set to stay here." Weiss said. She had wanted to show him around and seemed nervous that he'd turn her down. It was a good idea, he didn't really know

He looked around for his shirt and slid it on before he got out of bed, standing up he realized he wasnt entirely clothed as his boxer-shorts were the only thing he wore to bed that night. Weiss blushed and turned around quickly. Aleks slid on his pants quickly.

"Sure. That sounds like a great Idea.." he said as he dusted himself off as a way of saying he was ready.

"Okay! Great!... now could you wait outside please.." she asked in return. Aleks raised and eyebrow then realized why.

"Oh, yeah, sure." He said before walking out of the room and slowly shutting the door behind him.

He leaned up against the wall next to the door and waited for Weiss to come out.

Weiss stood on the opposite side the of the door for a bit before hopping up in a little joyous moment of success. Realzing how loud her landing was she looked around to make sure everyone was still asleep, which they were. She quickly changed into her usual outfit and snuck out the door. Aleks was waiting for her there, raising an eyebrow as if asking what the loud noise was all about.

She simply grabbed his arm and tugged him along not answering his unspoken question.

"Come on." She said leading him down the corridor.

As their footsteps faded out of the hallway, Yang spoke up.

"Where'd Weiss go?" she said, half asleep still.

"On a date." Ruby said giggling a litle.

"With Aleks?" Yang asked now somewhat fully awake.

"He was kinda good looking." Blake peeped up from her bunk. She had been awake the whole time.

"Heh, Snow and Winter, thats got to be the most ironic pairing I've ever heard of." Yang said, her head hitting the softness of her pillow.

"I just hope shes a little less stuck up after this." Ruby added.

Weiss still held onto Aleks's arm as they exited the dorm room. She seemed contempt to do so for the rest of the walk. Aleks didn't say anything, to be honest he thought nothing of it. He thought it was better this way so she could more easily point out things if he couldn't make them out himself. Military life had made him dense. Like.. really dense.

The day had barely just begun as the overnight chill still lingered causing Weiss to shiver. She was not dressed for the weather, at least at this time in the day. It was moments like these where Aleks didn't mind having such a heavy selection of clothing. The morning dew was still spread out over the grounds of Beacon, a small mist hung in the air. Not a single person was outside except for them. It was peaceful, more peace then Aleks had ever known.

"So.. where do you want to go first?" Weiss asked looking at him.

Aleks thought for a bit and realized he didn't exactly know where there WAS to go.

"Uh... anywhere you think would be best for me to see first. I don't exactly know where there is to go." He said kinda plainly.

Weiss seemed to realize this as he said it "Oh. In that case, I better show you everything then." she said, giving a light smile.

"Come on." she said, tugging him off yet again.

They spent a rather relaxing two hours walking together around the campus of Beacon. Weiss pointed out some of the things Aleks would need to know. The cafeteria, the library, and the main building itself though she said since they'd be sharing the same classes it would be no big deal if he didn't remember where exactly it was. None the less he made a mental note in his head where exactly everything was.

The sun began rising into the dawn sky. Both of them took the time to watch it in its ascent. Aleks had never actually watched the sun rise in remnant. Then again, he'd only been here for a few days. Everything felt like a dream to him, a dream for some reason he didn't want to wake up from. He didn't want to return to the gore of the battlefield. To fight in the brutal war that had plagued his teen years so horribly. If he went back, what would he do? All his friends were dead. All his family. The only people he knew were here in Remnant. He seriously hoped that this wasnt a dastardly trick life was playing on him. He barely realized he had seized Weiss's hand and had squeeze fairly hard at the thought of this being a dream.

He looked at her in sudden realization, she was blushing and it took a moment before he also lit up like a tomato. He quickly let go of her hand as he shied away.

"Sorry.. I was thinking about how this could all be a dream.. how much I would hate life if it had been lying to me this whole time. The thought made me angry and I apologize if I hurt you." He said looking down in self disgust.

"No.. it was.. fine.. don't beat yourself up over it." she countered, trying to keep his mood in high gear.

The two stood there for a time before Weiss popped a question he hadn't been anticipating.

"What was your life like... where you were from.. I guess what I'm asking is.. where exactly are you from..."

Aleks exhaled at the question. He summed up his thoughts into story format as best he could. His memory had been coming back to him. His early child hood was an entire blur and so it was after the incident but he decided to tell her about it as best he could.

"I come from a planet called Earth. Before you ask. Yes, like the ground, I know its not very original. On Earth, the continents are split up into multiple countries, each governing in its own way. I was born into a grand union of countries united under a government supposedly made to support the needs of the people. They called it the USSR. Or, in long form, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Everyone was equal under the reign of the government. Everyone was paid the same, provided for the same, treated the same. In those aspects life was fair. Though only in theory. Many people starved in a great famine that eradicated nearly twenty million of the population. I was born shortly after. We had years based off a religious event that shaped the world supposedly, so by its standards I was born in the year 1928. I grew up in a small village in the district known as Bryansk, apart of the administering nation of Russia. The Union comprised of many smaller nations, Russia being the largest. Borders were kept open and they all operated under one economy. Then, when I was five years old my life took a change for the worse. My father was killed in a mining accident. The thing about our economy was that, for the time we did not have the technology you did, all of this that you have shown me in these two days has been utterly bewildering but I've come to terms with it. We had no real way of guaranteeing the safety of our miners. A man of the federal police, an NKVD officer came to our door. He was a local officer, most of the people in the village knew him. He brought us the news and at first, my mother was in denial. He told her the accident was fatal. She said a lot of things she shouldn't have. A lot of things. He hit her to shut her up. She fell and cried on the kitchen floor for hours. After two I worked up enough courage to go to her. She pulled me into a hug and we slept there. Without a blanket, in the cold of our unheated house, only our body heat to keep us warm. The next morning, the officer was back with two soldiers of our regional garrison. They dragged my mother away and took me with them. They tied her up in the square of the village and read out her crimes. Treason was the one they could punish by death. Thats what she was charged with. Five soldiers loaded their rifles, five shots they fired into her and in the span of two days I had lost my family." Aleks said, taking a shaking pause to sum up the strength it took to hold back tears just thinking about that day.

"I was taken in by the officer. Given a warm bed, food well above of which my parents could have ever hopped to provide me and an Education. I graduated ahead of my class and went to one of the biggest cities in our nation. Before the Soviets it was named Petrograd, or St. Peters-berg as some of the people around the world knew it. I studied the common languages of the world along with politics and law. I was also enlisted in the Army by my adopted father and was only one rank above most people who entered the army. I was offered countless times deals to climb the career ladder and to achieve an official rank but I turned them all down. I wanted to remain as I am. A boy from a mining town. A Commoner. Then, as I rounded my sixteenth birthday, my country was invaded. Millions more slaughtered under a banner of a supposed master race. My home town was one of the first ones hit.

I served on the front-line protecting the city I had studied at for nearly a year until one day I woke up here. Everything's been slowly coming back to me ever since. I fought in battles, I've killed men, I have seen friends maimed and killed. That is why I am angry at the thought this could all be a dream and that I'm still on that forsaken battlefield. I don't want to lose more people who are close to me." He finished. The sun kept creeping up into the sky. The look on Weiss's face read a mixture of sadness and sympathy mixed with shock.

Suddenly she shot forward and embraced Aleks in a hug. He was shocked at first. He'd never had a girl embrace him over a tragic event. Events like his were common where he was from, he'd normally just get a "Get over it" from one of the people he knew. This was an Alien feeling to him, a feeling of acceptance, a feeling of empathy, as if she knew what he was going through. To be all alone at one point, to have no one to turn to. Having to build yourself up in a castle within the confines of your body and pray no one ever lay siege to the swelled up emotion hidden inside.

Weiss had just cause the castle walls to crumble. Emotion didn't flood forth like most people would have let happen. Aleks wasn't an emotional person to begin with.

"I promise you, this isn't a dream. We all care for you. There isn't a war going on here and we can protect ourselves. We'll all graduate from Beacon together, who knows, maybe you'll find a new family here... to replace the one you've lost." she said quietly. She had turned her head to lay against his chest. He was too tall to hug her in response so he just rapped his arms protectively around her head as a return hug.

"Thank you Weiss. I can't understand how you got that terrible nickname the rest of them call you." he replied. This made her smile and push out of the hug.

"Alright, listen here buddy, just because I was being all nice to you doesn't mean you can go and flatter me like that." she responded with a playful tone.

Aleks held up his hands in mock surrender "Understood, no flattery your heiness." He replied getting a small jab to the shoulder.

"Its Heiress! If you're going to mock me at least get it right... come on, we should be getting back. Don't want the others thinking weird things."

The walk back to the dorm was uneventful. The air was filled with an aura of what could only be represented by a heart. It didn't beat very fast or out of control but it was definitely there, and eventually it may grow bigger and bigger until its completely overtaken the intermediate relationship status of friendship. Though to do such would require time, which was always ever abundant.

The duo rounded the hallway and stopped outside the door. Aleks being the first to reach it, he opened it to behold the other members of RWBY awake on their beds staring at him and Weiss as they entered the room.

Yang was, as usual, the first one to pipe up.

"How was the date, lovey doveys?" she mocked.

Both Weiss and Aleks went as scarlet as Yang's eyes did when she got mad.

One of them was a tad more then mad though.


	7. Community Request (OOC)

(OOC)

Dear readers, it is today I come at you with my best intention to improve the quality of writing that some of you have notified me about. Be it writing too short, or too fast, skipping whole parts of potential writing all together and all in all flipping around the story like a childs flip book.

I've come here today, with this half-assembled request that you, the reader find at least one thing in each chapter you think could be improved on and post it in a review. Please, for the love of all that is scared, don't give me "It was bad." or "I didn't like this part." if you decide to meet my request, write how it was bad or why you didn't like it. Give me tips, what would make this better? What could I add? If I feel like I've reached the end how can I keep going?

It seems I only get better with constructive criticism. Which is plainly why I'm updating you with this request instead of another chapter. I don't want to let you down. I would like to fill most if not all of your wants and needs as readers. I find myself not wanting to write until I can guarantee some progress towards coming better.

All day today I was awaiting a new review. I hadn't received any criticism about chapter six at all and it worried me to be honest. I needed something to work on. I had no way of knowing how it was received. Had I done significantly better? Is this what you were hoping for? Some of you already leave me constant criticism and all in all I think its helped improve the quality a bit.

I'd like to personally thank:

Thecoolestblackguy for truly being the coolest black guy... if you are black. You've helped me a lot. Not only have you given criticism, but you've also reinforced what you liked about the particular chapters you've read and what still needs improvement. Thank you kindly.

To Chris7221. You stabbed my pride. I'm not going to lie, it hurt, but it helped. Through shattered pride one grows. When you are no longer contempt with being the way you are and seek out an improvement. I took what you said to heart. You and TCBG have helped shape the story more then you know. I read what you said and agreed with it. I just couldnt articulate what I wanted for the story properly but you did. I'm grateful for that. Hope you liked Chapter Six better as well as chapter five, I havent gotten a reply back from you yet but I do like to converse with my reviewers to learn a little more then what a single review can tell me.

To all the guests who've posted. Yeah, chapter five was buggy. I fixed that as fast as I could. It made me realize I can't work from school and home because stuff like that happens.

To Tomla134

Well. You're the reason I made this. The reason I realized I NEED criticism to continue this story. I don't want to ruin it. I want to redeem it. So I cincerly hope all of you out there reading this will take them time to review.

My one pet peeve is when you do it as guests because I can't reply to you then and honestly that helps me out in no way.

Anyways, thats my message for today. I'll leave this in the chapter select menu. I'll continue writing when I feel like I can achieve some improvments. Thank you for your time.

With regards, TheKnightOfMalta.


	8. Chapter 7

They were all dawned in their uniforms now, with the exception of Aleks who, due to the series of events the past few days, had completely forgotten about the uniform requirement. It seemed the others forgot as well when they all gave him blank stares when he didn't change out of his personal clothing.

Weiss face palmed. "Don't tell me we forgot to get him a uniform.." she groaned. They didn't even know if he would be admitted to classes without his uniform. Aleks didn't know what to think of the whole situation, should he try his luck and go to class anyways. It would probably be best to do so, even if he would be turned down. He did realize that he didn't actually have to attend class but it would attract unwanted attention to him if he didn't yet still managed good gradings.

"Who was in charge of remembering that?" Blake said looking at the other three. Obviously it wasn't Aleks, he didn't know where anything was so it would be pointless to put him in charge of the whole ordeal.

"Uh..." Ruby spoke up embarrassed. "I was." she really had meant to remember, but like the others the previous few days had helped to wipe her thoughts of anything she needed to remember, big or small.

"Ruby, you airhead." Weiss said, holding her sides with the curves of her palms. The rest of them sighed, except for Aleks, he was confused at the word choice but he could not tell if the fact he didn't understand the sentence was because he wasn't entirely fluent in English. He was sure he had never heard the term 'airhead' used before.

There was a knock at the door. Blake strolled over to it since the rest of them were farther away from it.

She opened it to reveal a blond teen roughly about Aleks's height and behind him stood his opponent from earlier. One Pyrrha Nikos. They were both dressed in the standard Beacon outfit, of course with gender specific differences.

"Oh, hey Blake. We heard you guys talking all...euuhh.. you know, the way Weiss talks when someone does something stupid. Whats the problem?" Jaune asked before very plainly noticing the only person out of the group not wearing a uniform. His face made an emotive "Oh." He took a moment to think about the delema, coming to a swift conclusion.

"He can just borrow one of mine... come to think of it, we've never been introduced. I'm Jaune Arc." Jaune extended his hand. Aleks had a moment of deja vu. He'd heard that name before, It sounded historical. French. He shook Jaunes hand after an awkward moment.

"Aleks, Aleksandr зима" he replied, answering with the correct pronunciation for it. He received a few questioning stares from the others, Ruby being the only one to yet again voice what everyone else was thinking.

"Wait. I thought you said your last name was Winter? Its really zeema?" she said, absolutely butchering the pronunciation. Aleks might have flinched if she had been Russian but he gave her a much more lenient stance when it came to pronouncing words shes never heard.

"Its Zima, and yes, it is Winter, Zima is my peoples word for Winter." he said, trying to clear up the discrepancy as best he could.

"Your people sure have some weird words for things." She gave in response.

Aleks shrugged in response turning back to Jaune who had been completely left out of the conversation. He of course wasn't the only one as Pyrrha stood patiently behind him.

"Thank you for the offer Jaune, you've saved me the trouble of being embarrassed on my first day."Aleks said clapping him on the shoulder. Jaune smirked but shrugged the gratitude off. He seemed to be a fairly modest person.

"No problem, its the least I could do for a friend of a friend. Come with me. You girls can go on ahead, we'll catch up once everything's sorted out." He motioned as Aleks exited the room to cross the hall. Jaune had a small smile on his face, almost as if he was hiding something that no one really seemed to catch onto. The girls nodded and went their separate way down the hall. Ruby seemed to almost instantaneously start up a conversation with Pyrrha though neither Aleks nor Jaune could make out what was being said before the door to team JPNR's dorm room was shut.

Jaune hastily went over to his wardrobe of sorts and pulled out a matching Beacon outfit to his own. Aleks looked at it, thinking very plainly he already did not like it. It seemed a far step above what he was used to wearing and was also very much out of his class based comfort zone. Jaune looked up from the uniform as his eyes lingered hesitantly before handing it to Aleks. Not a "I hope he doesn't ruin this" kind of hesitant, but as if his mind lingered on something he was impatiently wanting to ask. Aleks held the jacket up by its collar while the other garments hung over his arm like a clothesline.

He motioned to Jaune for a place to change, who quickly showed him the on-suite bathroom to use.

Aleks nodded his thanks and proceed inside, softly yet hastily shutting the door. He had just slipped out of his pants when a call came from the other side of the door.

"Hey.. Aleks. I know its a weird time to ask this but..uhh...how did you do it?" the question came from the adjacent room. People seemed to love to ask Aleks questions when he was taking his clothes off. He jokingly thought to himself about keeping his shirt off causing him to have to stifle a chuckle. No. It wouldn't be wise to do that. He thought as he traced a patch of scar tissue on his side. A grazing shot. His body was covered with them if one were to expect it, which not to toot his own horn, some people might do so ravishingly. He had almost forgotten about Jaune before he gave his quizzical reply.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean.. Do what?" he asked hopping in place to get Jaunes dress pants on. They weren't his size after all, just slightly smaller. It would do for now, but there was no way he could live everyday with this vice like grip on his lower half. He just prayed silently that the shirt and jacket wouldn't be as constricting; he had a fancy for loose fitting clothing so he was fuming over this in his head.

"Come on, you know what I mean." Jaune replied. No, he really didn't know what he meant, what had he accomplished over the past few days that could be bring Jaune to this awkward interrogation. It came to him quickly as his mind wandered. Pyrrha. Jaune was asking how he beat Pyrrha.

"Oh.. You mean my fight with Pyrrha." Aleks said. It had been the first time he said her name, it rolled off his tong as if it was a Slavic word causing his accent to influence the sound of her name. It was surprisingly re-leaving. To speak in English for this long had started to burden him, causing his mouth to hurt at times due to the awkward pronunciations and use of emphasis on certain things.

"Yes I'm talking about your fight with Pyrrha. How did you manage to beat her like that?" he said, mocking Aleks accentual problems with Pyrrha's name. He sounded annoyed, his tone sharp as if he was upset that she had lost and the whole conversation made him increasingly so.

Aleks took the time to bite back an attitude filled response. He didn't like being mocked so harshly. To credit Jaune, he pronounced it quite well even though the name itself was nowhere near common in Russian. He could make a fine linguist. Then again, Aleks knew not if there were indeed other languages in the world of Remnant. Everyone seemed to speak the same language which he presumed to be English.

"I don't know what you mean.. we fought, and I came out the victor. The fight could have changed its course at any point, it just so happened to change in my favour." Aleks responded monotonously buttoning up his shirt as he talked. These clothes were VERY high above his societal class. Jaune gave a groan of antagonized frustration. It was almost if he had felt Aleks had cheated. He didn't seem to think it was possible for the Russian to have beaten his team mate so effortlessly, the fight had barely lasted five minutes.

"It doesn't just go in your favour! Pyrrhas one of the greatest...never-mind... sorry I'm getting a little heated." Jaune said shaking his hands furiously before calming down. Aleks had opened the door and gave him a moment to collect himself before stepping out of the bathroom. He didn't want to put it past the blond to lose his temper. He had seen men with near excessive self control get pushed too far and do things no one expected of them. Thankfully, Jaune had fairly good self control or was just very good at calming himself down as he stopped seeing red and became somewhat of an embarrassed, apologetic, softy which suited him much better then a fiery temper.

Aleks shrugged and walked out of the bathroom dawned in clothing that reminded him of an anaconda with its prey. Jaune didn't stifle his laugh as Aleks had thinking about himself walking around shirtless.

Aleks gave him a look that read very plainly "What are you laughing at?". Jaune waved his apologies before catching his breathe.

"Heheh- I think you should stick to your own clothes when you can. That thing looks ridiculous on you. I guess some of us can't pull off Beacon." Jaune chuckled. Aleks decided he didn't mind Jaune. He was loyal to his friends. A kind, warmhearted guy if he had ever seen one. He just had to make sure he didn't get Jaune seriously angry one of these times. The kind people are always the scariest when angry.

Ruby watched Aleks and Jaune enter JPNR's dorm room, making sure the door was shut before she could talk to Pyrrha. She slunk over to Pyrrha hoping the rest of team RWBY wouldn't pay their conversation any mind.

"Thank you.. for what you did by the way. I know it wasn't a good thing to do but.. I had to ask. It wouldn't be very leader-like of me if I didn't try to take care of him. Was he.. you know.. decent at least?" She questioned. She had to make sure he could at least hold his own. If he couldn't then rigging the entrance match was probably the dumbest thing she's ever done.

Pyrrha gave a sideways glance at Ruby, a gaze the surreptitiously announced what Ruby was dreading. He wasn't good. Not in the slightest. Ruby's heart sank deep. She was hoping he could at least do what he did when the Beowolf had lunged for him. No such luck. It seemed as if he had done so without actually thinking about it. Like he was in a subconscious state of being that allowed him to react so quickly.

"He wasn't.. that bad.. was he?" She asked hoping she had just misread Pyrrhas look. Unfortunately, this drew the swift attention of her teammate.

"Who wasn't bad? Who're you talking about." Blake asked looking back to Ruby and Pyrrha. Ruby gave a startled jump at the sudden enquiry into her private conversation.

"Nothing! No ones bad! Nope! Everyone's just peachy!" she said in quick succession. If that wasn't the biggest tell tale sign in the whole of remnant that someone was telling a lie then Blake didn't know what was. Everyone had ceased movement now hearing Ruby's almost pleading lie, as if she was begging no one else to enquire into her helplessly obvious lie.

Yang raised an eyebrow as if to say "What did you do this time." If no one else were to have caught on Yang would have almost definitely done so. She could always tell when Ruby was hiding something. It was probably due to the fact that Ruby was a terrible liar.

The red head looked between everyone repeatedly, her expression wavering before she grabbed the sides of her head in agony.

"Okay! I asked Pyrrha to let Aleks win his duel!" she said wriggling with clear disappointment in herself. It had only been a day since she'd done it as well. She had thought she could have at least kept up the charade a little longer in hopes of telling him about it later and training him to be better if he wasn't at least slightly what she had been hoping him to be. Pyrrha's look had pretty much shattered her willpower.

"You did what!?" Weiss exclaimed loudly. Her voice echoed in the stairwell. Luckily they were the only ones in it at the time so no unwanted ears could hear the dispute.

"That's not good Ruby. We can't just cheat the system of the entrance even if he's our new teammate." Blake scolded softly. It wasn't meant to be in anyway harsh, it was just a reprimand of bad behaviour. Blake never really scolded anyone harshly. It was kind of her way of saying don't be dumb, though a lot kinder then what Weiss would have said.

"Hey. Come on, lets not get upset yet. I mean, yeah Pyrrha let him win, but she fought him so she can tell us he's at least good enough to fight people of lesser skill." Yang reasoned looking to Pyrrha for confirmation. "He is at least okay... right?"

Pyrrha paused before exhaling slowly. No. Not even in the slightest.

"Hes very predictable, his form is utterly horrendous, I had to pause at times to let him get into position so I didn't catch him mid roll. I had to fake several blows including the one he caught me in the leg with. I let him win. But that's the only reason he won. I don't like saying this but I doubt he could even beat Jaune.. and I'm using Jaune as a low standing opponent. The only thing he surprised me with was how he managed to dent my shield and even I think that was due to his weapon, and not so much his own deed." Pyrrha stated harshly. In summary, Aleks was terrible. Sooner or later he would be found a fraud, who got let in by a falsity . Ruby, crouching down holding the sides of her head, was nearly in tears.

"Its all my fault, I shouldn't have asked you to let him win. Now if he gets in a fight he'll get creamed." she sniffled lightly. Yang walked up to her, crouching down and gave her one of those older sibling loving hugs that you see in the movies from time to time. Really touchy stuff but in this case it was to calm the red head down before she went deeper and deeper into a whirlwind of self-disappointment.

"Hey, come on now Sis.. as long as we keep him out of combat we can train him up so he can take care of himself. We still got time, I mean, its his first day what could possibly go wrong?" Yang whispered comfortingly. Except for the last bit, "What could possibly go wrong," it should be universally known that whenever that sentence is so much as muttered, everything will and is most like bound to do exactly that. Go wrong.

Just want to give my gratitude to TheCoolestBlackGuy again for helping me out and becoming my editor and critic. This chapter went through substantial editing before being release and has taken both of us nearly a full week to get the editing back and forth between the two of us. Apparently i've done better with this chapter but i'll let you guys see for yourselves if thats true.

Also to TCBG's recommendation, I'll be going back and touching up the earlier chapters, hopefully with his help so the next installment may be a couple of days off. I'll be taking a break for today so tomorrow I'll begin the process.

Thanks for your time.

With Regards, TheKnightOfMalta


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